The Silver Skull

CHAPTER 22

ill made it back to Reidheid's house on Cowgate within twenty minutes, taking care to scan every street and wynd he passed for the Enemy who would soon be flooding in pursuit.

"You have protection here?" Will asked as he bounded over the threshold when Reidheid opened the door.

Reidheid indicated the trail of salt and herbs across the doorway. "Every entrance to this house is defended. The Enemy will never enter. It is a safe haven."

"That is reassuring. I fear at this moment that the Enemy may well be consumed with a desire to see the inside of your house."

"Your mission was a success?" Reidheid guided Will into the drawing room, where Nathaniel and Meg sat in deep, quiet conversation. They left quickly at Reidheid's gesture.

"The Silver Skull is here in Edinburgh, as we presumed. Unfortunately, the time was not right to bring it back with me, but it is clear the Enemy is not ready to use the destructive force it carries with it. They need the Shield to complete their plan, and they have not yet located it."

"And do you know what this plan is?" Reidheid asked.

"Not yet. But now I have my own plan."

Reidheid smiled broadly. "Of course. I would expect no less from the great Will Swyfte! Could you enlighten me?"

"I am going to find the Shield myself."

Reidheid's eyes narrowed as he tried to ascertain if Will was serious. "But the Enemy have been searching for the Shield without any result."

Will shrugged. "But I am not the Enemy. And there are places I can go where they cannot. Do you know a man by the name of Kintour, a keeper of the records at the palace?"

Reidheid nodded. "He has been missing for a long time ... since the days of Mary. Many felt he was loyal to the queen and fled when she fell from grace. That, or dead."

"He is dead now, another thing for which the Enemy must pay." From his pocket, Will withdrew the parchment Kintour had given him. He studied the scrawled writing. "He had found a guide to the whereabouts of the Shield, but had not yet broken the cipher."

"Oh? May I see?"

"Perhaps later. You have a library? With books pertaining to Edinburgh and the palace?"

"Of course," Reidheid said. "I have many books. Come."

Reidheid led Will through the house to a large library at the rear. The smell of great age lay across the shelves of leather-bound books. Reidheid indicated the volumes on local history and left Will to study them at a table by the light of a candle.

After several hours, when the bright morning light flooded the room, Will had become so engrossed in his work he didn't notice Nathaniel enter until a goblet of wine was placed before him.

"Thank you, Nat. You are thoughtful, as ever," Will said without looking up. "I see you have found a friend in the beautiful Meg."

"It is pleasant to speak with someone who is untarnished by this business of ours," Nathaniel replied. "She is entertaining and witty. A novelty," he added pointedly.

Will allowed himself a small, unseen smile. "Then enjoy yourself, Nat. God knows there are few entertaining distractions in this work."

His curiosity getting the better of him, Nathaniel leaned over Will's shoulder to examine the book he was reading. "It is also a novelty to see you with an open tome rather than a woman in your lap and a goblet in your hand. Which is why I brought you that drink, to right a world that has gone mad. What do you read?"

"The object of our search and the key to our success in defeating our Enemy is hidden at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. A ciphered text left by the Templar Knights points to its location."

"The Templar Knights? Their job was to protect good Christians in a dangerous world. What do they have to do with this?"

"There was more to the Knights than the world knows," Will mused while turning the pages. "As there is more to everything than the world knows."

Nathaniel picked up the parchment. "This is the cipher? The protection lies where the heart of truth beats, beneath the Holy Rood where the martyr stands in black and white." He considered the words for a moment and then suggested, "Under a statue of a martyr in the palace?"

"A good attempt, Nat." Pushing his chair back, Will swung a boot onto the table and wiped a bleary eye. "Enlightenment might strike you if you had taken the time to read The Matter of Olde English by Williams, a dour fellow from Cambridge. I presume you have a copy on your bedside table?"

Sighing, Nathaniel motioned for Will to continue.

"If you had, then you would know of heorot, our ancestors' word for deer, which the rough-tongued people of England pronounced hart. H-a-r-t."

"Hart ... heart," Nathaniel mused. "Ah, I see. We search for the deer of truth, who bounds through the glades of faith ... or is it charity? ... not far from the fields of hope. In the hunting grounds behind the palace, I presume."

"Why, Nat, in your sadly familiar mockery you come close to striking the nail upon the head."

"Is that a copy of The Matter of Olde English I spy before you?"

As Nathaniel leaned forwards, Will moved the book to the other side of the table. "Concentrate, Nat! I am here to add to your poor education. Another word for `hart' is `stag.' I read this morning of the early days of the palace, and more importantly of the abbey that stands beside it. It was built for the Augustinians by King David in 1128, guided, I was told earlier this night, by the Templar Knights. The location was precise, and chosen by King David following a vision he had of a white stag with the cross lodged between its antlers-the cross, or the Holy Rood, from which the palace gets its name."

"So the thing for which you search-"

"A Shield, or the protection."

11 -it is at the abbey, not the palace."

"Correct. The Enemy presumed the reference to the Holy Rood meant the Shield was beneath the palace."

"And the martyr in black and white?"

"Still eludes me. But we have a start. And when we are entertained by the king this evening, we shall investigate further."